The Thak Archive

The Thak Archive is a multimedia archive of ethnographic records collected from 1969 to the present by Alan Macfarlane and Sarah Harrison in the Gurung village of Thak, located in central Nepal. Census data, as well as general economic and social data collected at regular intervals over the entire 30-year period are included in the collection, along with 3000+ photographs and over a hundred hours of film. The collection is unique in its time depth, allowing researchers to understand social change over an extended period. Each entry has been carefully cross-referenced with other elements in the collection, creating a complex, multi-level databank of information about one ethnic community in Nepal on the micro-level, and about social change in contemporary Nepal on the macro-level. The Archive is a dynamic project which is updated regularly with new information from Thak. The collections will be hosted online in stages over the coming months.

• Click here to view photographs from Thak.
• Click here to view film clips from Thak on Ritual and Rice Production.
• Click here to see a slide show of recent images from Thak.
• Click here to view film clips of anti-witchcraft and healing rituals in central Nepal among the Gurungs